Quote:
Originally Posted by xiurell
την και στις
Την πρώτη Νοεμβρίου φεύγει ο φίλος μου
Τα γενέθλιά μου είναι στις δεκαπέντε Αυγούστου
Please could someone explain why these two are used?
I understand that dates are in the accusative when stating "when something is" but why not:
Την και τις or
Στην και στις
I guess I don't understand why the "σε" preposition is being dropped when referring to the first of the month only?
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I think that it has to do with the cardinal and ordinal νθμβερσ, cause in the first phrase you said "
Την πρώτη Νοεμβρίου" which is ordinal and in the second "
στις δεκαπέντε Αυγούστου", which is cardinal (you could also say "
τη δεκάτη πέμπτη Αυγούστου"). It's like the hour
στη μία η ώρα (you don't say:
τη μία η ώρα!!). Of course I'm not so sure cause I've never thought about it and they don't teach us these details at school, we say it correctly but we don't know exactly why does this happen. Anyway, that's what I think about that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xiurell
an another question
I know ο χρόνος is masculine in singular but neuter in plural τα χρόνια
I frequently heard/read "καλή χρονιά!"
and I'm a bit puzzled? Is it just that this phrase is
legacy and no longer grammatically correct (despite its
frequent use), or does the year also have a (grammatically)
female aspect ?
and finally I've seen the use of οι χρόνοι in masculine plural
Well I'm puzzled at all
Regards 
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First of all let's take the female word "χρονιά" which is so confusing to you. The explanation is very simple, they have a slight difference in the meaning. Xronia means:
1) the period of one year
2) a school year (from september to June)
but xronos has an abstract meaning, it could mean:
1) an indeterminable duration (έχεις χρόνο για μια βόλτα;=do you have time for a walk?)
2) the period of time in which something has to be completed (βιάσου, ο χρόνος που μας έδωσε τελειώνει=hurry up, the time that he gave us is running out)
3) the period of one year (πηγαίνω στο χωριό μια φορά το χρόνο=I'm going to the village once a year)
4) (in plural) specific period of years, an epoch (αρχαίοι χρόνοι=ancient times)
5) (in plural) age (όταν είχα τα χρόνια σου, δούλευα από το πρωί ως το βράδυ=when I was at your age, I was working from the morning to the evening)
6) grammatical category, tense (ποιοι είναι οι χρόνοι του ρήματος;=which are the tenses of the verb?)
* Xronos has two types in plural: oi xronoi & ta xronia.
A synonime to these words is etos which means:
1) the complete rotation of Earth around the sun/one year/12 months etc.
2) age (πόσων ετών είσαι;=how old are you?)
That's it, I hope I help you a bit.
